by C. R. Ellis
Her lips stretched until her face lit up entirely; Jade turned the act of smiling into a fucking art form. Her smile wasn’t just a quick flicker of emotion racing across her lips; it was an invitation for the world to share in her happiness, an invitation I’d never turn down.
“You are incredible,” I countered, pulling her into my arms and nuzzling her neck.
Arms weaved around my waist as she pressed kisses against my head. “What time did you say we have to be at the party?” she asked, slipping her hands underneath my shirt.
“Doesn’t matter,” I muttered against her throat between kisses. In an instant, I gripped her waist, hoisted her up, and flipped our positions, setting her on the counter to get her closer to me. She gasped, but quickly wrapped her legs around my waist and arched her back to grant me easier access to her neck and chest. When it wasn’t enough, she ripped her shirt up and off before I even registered what was happening.
I blinked and stared at her exposed body. “That was really fucking hot.”
She just grinned and reached for the button of my jeans. I kicked off my shoes and took care of her bra while she worked at my pants. Realizing she was wearing jeans too, I pulled her to the edge of the counter and brought her down to the ground before pulling both her jeans and panties down and off. The angle wasn’t right at the counter height, so I tugged her toward the dining room table and bent her forward, putting one hand at her back and slipping one between her legs. A strangled gasp bubbled from her throat and her hands held the sides of the table in a death grip.
“Fuck, Jade, you’re killing me,” I breathed, using my free hand to swipe away dark hair splayed across her back and face.
A moan was the only response she gave before I was spreading her legs farther apart and pushing into her. I’d never felt this possessive, this consumed by the need to be with someone before. This need was crazy and inexplicable, but I knew she felt the same way. That much was evident in everything from the way she looked at me before pulling me down on top of her, to the way she came apart around me each time I was inside her.
My hips pumped into her and drove us both into madness—her mumbling the words fuck and harder and yes and Emmett like they were the only four words in the English language she knew, and me slipping into a reality of just us. Nothing else mattered. Our orgasms rolled through us seconds apart, and then it was my turn to lose the ability to use words not associated with Jade or how fucking amazing she felt.
“I think dining room tables should only be used for sex from now on,” Jade mused, reaching across my body to pick up her shirt.
“Damn, I think I’ve corrupted you,” I replied, shaking my head with a laugh. “But I also think you might be on to something. Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the place.”
“Okay, but you’ll have to control yourself, Boston. We don’t have time for you to jump my bones in every room.”
My eyebrow cocked, and I flashed her a smirk. “Sounds like a challenge.”
She rolled her eyes dramatically before turning and walking into the living room. “You’re insatiable, Emmett.”
“Don’t act like you aren’t,” I countered, reaching out to swat her ass playfully.
I finished giving her the tour and we had just enough time to shower and get ready before leaving for John’s party.
My phone pinged with a text from Lance just before we walked into the restaurant. He was extending me an invitation to a pool party thrown by one of his clients.
A month ago, I would’ve been just as eager to hit up a party as Lance, but now, turning down his invitation to be around a bunch of half-naked women in bikinis came easily. I had no doubt it would be a killer party, but if I had to choose between attending a party with celebrities, models, and athletes in attendance, or spending time with Jade, I’d choose her. Hands down.
In fact, I’d always choose her.
Jade was the force that grounded me. And at the same time, she made me feel weightless, like I could fly. She gave me a reason to want to fly. Jade was everything I never knew I could have.
The realization should’ve terrified me. Instead, it broke through the fog of apprehension I’d fought since meeting her. A wave of clarity settled over me, putting to rest all of the questions I’d been struggling with over the last week.
“What? You look way too excited right now, Emmett. You do remember this party is for John, right?”
“I don’t know, Em’s probably more excited about getting to meet you than she is to celebrate John’s birthday. And I am excited right now, Tiny. I haven’t wanted to make this kind of introduction in a long time.”
She leaned into me, and I wrapped my arms around her waist. Jade’s head shook in slow motion before her dark lashes lifted and I was met by bright, searing green eyes. “I’m so excited to meet the people responsible for making you the man you are. Because that man is pretty incredible, Emmett. Especially in this tie,” she added, hands gliding along my chest until her fingers traced over the lines on the navy and white tie around my neck. She studied the tie like she was picturing me without it—or any other article of clothing—on. “I’m pretty good with ties, you know. I could probably teach you a thing or two about them.”
Could this woman get any fucking sexier? First she says she wants to be handcuffed, now she’s an expert on ties?
“We’ll see about that. Count on it, Tiny.”
Her eyes grew wide, and a pink shade crept into her cheeks. “Yep, good tie,” she squeaked, eyes fixed in a stare on the fabric around my neck.
“Yeah, I’ve been a big fan of navy blue these days.” I winked.
She snapped out of her trance and wrapped her fingers around the tie, tugging gently until our lips were within grazing range. Her movements were effortless, like she’d had a lifetime of practice claiming me with a simple touch. “Yeah? Well, I think you’ll be a fan of red too after tonight,” she whispered before pressing her lips to mine.
The way Jade kissed me was electrifying; I’d never felt more alive than I did when her lips met mine. I knew I’d never find another mouth that molded to mine like hers. She kissed me like she fucking owned me, and I kissed her like it was the only thing I’d ever need in this life.
Because it was all I’d ever need.
She’d once told me me everyone deserves to feel human, but I wouldn’t let myself look too closely at her statement. Now, I realized she made me feel human. She made me feel alive, made me realize what living was supposed to feel like.
I was moments away from dragging her off to some remote corner of an alley when she pulled back, flashing me a devilish smile and tugging my hand. “Come on, Boston, we don’t wanna be late.”
We were hardly ten feet inside the restaurant before Emily came charging toward us with an ear-to-ear grin plastered across her face.
I barely got a peck hello before she tossed me aside to get to Jade.
“Jade! It’s so wonderful to meet you,” she gushed, forgoing a handshake and pulling Jade into her embrace. “I’m so glad you could come. I was elated when Emmett told me he was bringing a plus one.” My sweet aunt’s dark chocolate eyes melted with the warmth she radiated. Emily Sinclair was everything my mother wasn’t. She was sweet, warm, caring, and had always treated me like the son she never had.
“Thank you so much for having me. I’m so happy to be here, I’ve heard a lot about you and John,” Jade replied, returning Auntie Em’s hug.
“Oh, really?” Her gaze cut to me, a thousand questions in her expression. Then she linked arms with Jade and lead her toward the back patio where the small party was already in swing. Jade fell right into place next to Em, and they walked off together like they’d known each other for years.
Emily headed right for John, pulling him away from a conversation about upcoming business deals I could tell he wanted out of anyway.
“Honey, this is Jade,” Emily gushed with no attempt at subtlety. She might as well have winked and nudged him right in front of
Jade.
John beamed at Jade, his pleasure evident in his blinding smile. He shifted his glass to his left hand and pulled Jade’s hand into his while leaning down to peck both of her cheeks. “It’s truly a pleasure, Jade,” John said, releasing her hand and slipping his arm around Emily’s waist.
“Likewise,” Jade replied. Her smile was genuine and all-encompassing, and hit me right in the heart. “I was just telling Emily how great it is to meet you two after everything Emmett has told me about you both.”
“And what exactly did my nephew tell you?”
Jade flickered her gaze up to mine and draped her arm around my waist. I slid my arm around her shoulders and drew her into my body. “Just how you’ve been incredible role models for him throughout his life. How lucky he is to have you both.”
Emily and John eyed me with matching shock this time, and I knew they were both reeling from the knowledge I’d told Jade about my life. They knew there were parts of myself I’d never shared with anyone, even Tracy. Losing Tracy turned me into an island, but growing up a Sinclair had been lonely and isolating enough, so I’d rarely divulged the realities of my family life with anyone.
And yet, Jade knew more about me after three weeks than I’d ever shared with anyone.
Before our conversation could continue, Harrison appeared behind John and cleared his throat. “Ladies, do you mind if I borrow these two for a quick minute?” He tacked on a smile to his request, but I could read his underlying apprehension. My gut twisted the same way it did the last time Harrison delivered bad news.
Jade nodded and assured me she’d be fine with Emily. I quickly bent to kiss her before trailing behind Harrison in the direction of the restaurant’s indoor bar. He walked past the bar and out the doors. Words were on the tip of my tongue to ask Harrison what was going on when I spotted my father and brother walking into the bar across the street, smiling and laughing.
I fought the urge to bolt through traffic and tackle Will into the pavement. “What the hell are they doing here?”
Harrison turned toward John and me and shrugged. “Best I can tell is some kind of low-key fundraiser or off-book meeting for your father. I’ve seen a few recognizable government officials go in already.”
“This can’t be good. But I damn sure am going to have a few words with my little brother.”
Harrison stepped in front of me, blocking my path. “Would these be the same kind of ‘words’ you had with him in Austin?”
John gripped my shoulder and halted my movements. “Emmett, throwing Will through a window isn’t going to solve things.”
I peeled my eyes off of the building across the street to meet John’s gaze, leveling him with a hard glare. “He drugged her, John. And we both know he would’ve done worse if Harrison hadn’t been there.”
Anger ripped through every vein in my body. Seeing Will after knowing what he’d done to Jade elicited a blinding rage threatening to consume me. I didn’t give a shit Dean said there was zero physical evidence linking Will to the scene, I knew it was him. I felt it in my bones, the same way I could sense what he was thinking or feeling. I knew the thoughts he had about me; I felt his hatred for me with every look he cast my way. The hatred bred from the way our father treated us and expected us to treat each other.
I stormed across the street, prepared to rip the door off its hinges to get to Will. I scoured the dimly lit area for my twin, pausing when I heard my father’s voice from a private room off to the side of the space.
“I won’t keep you in suspense any longer, gentlemen,” he boomed, causing the chatter to die down around him.
Someone from inside the room quickly closed the door, so I moved closer to hear what William Sinclair had to say.
“Many of you know I’ve always had the big picture in mind, always kept my end goal as the driving force behind everything I do. It’s no secret I’ve had high political aspirations, and I’ve been waiting for the right time to get on the ballot for the nation’s highest office. Well, gentlemen, I’ve decided now is the time. Consider this the unofficial launch of my campaign.”
Campaign?
I waited for the punchline that never came.
He cannot be serious.
Except every part of me knew he was, without question, serious about this. Ultimate power was all he’d ever wanted, but I’d never stopped to consider the day would actually come when he’d take the steps to have it. His sudden trip to find me in Texas made sense now.
Chatter and cheers erupted from the small gathering inside the room, but I could barely hear anything over the roar of blood rushing to my head. I pulled my hand back from the doorknob and turned to Harrison and John.
“This is a dream, right? A nightmare?”
John shook his head with a pained expression on his face. “He’s made all the right friends in all the right places, unfortunately.”
“I don’t give a shit who he’s friends with or what he’s done to get himself to this point; there’s no way this is happening.” I turned toward the door again, steadying myself to march in there and air all of William’s dirty laundry.
“I don’t like this either, but we need to be smart about this, Emmett,” John warned.
“He’s right, boss,” Harrison added, stepping in front of the door. “We have the advantage if they don’t realize we know what’s going on.”
Goddamn it. They were both right. Which meant Will got to live to see another Boston sunrise. I needed to be smart about this, which meant not storming in right now. I just wished being smart didn’t mean having to make an impossible choice about what mattered most in my life.
Chapter 19
Jade
Something was off. I could tell by the way Emmett’s strides toward me were direct and purposeful after he returned. I could feel it in the way he kept me close to him for the length of the party. He sported a dimple-less smile as he introduced me to his co-workers and a handful of John and Emily’s friends. But he couldn’t go longer than five minutes without darting his eyes first toward the door, then toward Harrison at the far side of the patio.
When Emmett didn’t speak a single word on our ride back to the condo, I realized I’d have to pry information out of him. He’d become quiet and distant as soon as we left the party, staring blankly out the window, lost inside his head with just his thoughts for company. Harrison, not so shockingly, followed suit and kept his eyes glued to the street ahead of us, only throwing the occasional glance at the rearview mirror.
My hands twisted in my lap, fidgeting with the strap of my wristlet while I debated what to do about Emmett’s reluctance to speak. I figured his aunt and uncle were a safe topic to start with.
“Emily and John are fantastic.”
Emmett’s head bobbed back and forth in a nod. “Yeah.”
“I can see you get your passion and drive from John. He’s got a lot of heart.”
“Uh huh.”
His attention remained locked on the blur of pedestrians and buildings outside the car. Normally, I would’ve been glued to the beauty in the passing scenery too. Boston was beautiful at night, but more important things demanded my focus. “I’m thinking of selling all of my clothes and moving to a nudist colony.”
“Sounds good,” he mumbled before his head whipped around, his gaze roaming my face. “What?”
“Emmett, what’s going on? What did you and John and Harrison talk about earlier? You’ve been distracted all night.” So much for finding a segue into the conversation.
Emmett released a lengthy, exaggerated sigh, and Harrison’s eyes flickered to me in the rearview mirror. Neither man jumped to fill me in on their earlier conversation. Apparently secretive, closed-off Emmett was back.
“Just some logistics of an upcoming business deal,” Emmett explained, moving his eyes back to the window. “Something’s come up to make things a bit more complicated than we anticipated.”
I wasn’t buying it—he wouldn’t be this withdrawn if ‘something�
�� was strictly business-related.
His vague response felt like a dismissal, like he was purposefully trying to detach himself from the conversation, from me. After all the progress we’d made in the communication department over the last week, I couldn’t believe his walls were going back up. Before I could press him further, Harrison pulled into the parking spot outside Emmett’s condo.
“Emmett,” I said, reaching to unclip my seatbelt, but he was out of the SUV before Harrison even killed the engine.
I cut my eyes to Harrison. “Don’t suppose you’d care to enlighten me?”
The dim interior light gleamed off of Harrison’s smooth head. “Afraid this is between you two, Curious Jade.”
I nodded and jumped out to catch up to Emmett. Riding in the elevator to his floor was the longest, quietest sixty seconds of my life. I snuck glances at him in the mirror along the wall of the elevator, unable to bring myself to actually look his way. The lines furrowing his brow and the clench of his jaw told me he was waging some kind of internal battle with himself.
I had no idea what the hell was going on in his head or why he was trying to keep something from me, but I knew it wasn’t good. The second I heard his response about his mood having to do with work, my heart and stomach twisted together in a knot of apprehension and confusion.
“Don’t do this, Emmett,” I begged quietly after following him into the condo. I crossed my arms over my chest and readied myself for whatever was to come.
He stopped and turned toward me, a plea in his eyes. I tracked the bob of his Adam’s apple before scanning the five o’clock shadow along his clenched jaw. Reaching up, he tugged at his tie, the very tie I’d envisioned him using for a whole different purpose tonight.
“I thought you wanted to let me in, to give me all your truths,” I pointed out, taking a tentative step in his direction.
Emmett’s chest expanded with an intake of breath when I invaded his space. “That’s not fair, Jade.”